Calcutta native and former Gourmet writer Chitrita Banerji is the author of the books Eating India, Life and Food in Bengal, Bengali Cooking, Feeding the Gods and the essay “A Shared Plate,” which was included in the 2006 edition of The Best American Travel Writing. Below, she shares with Indagare her must-sees for Lucknow, India.
One of my favorite destinations in northern India is Lucknow, capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh, a city of courtly manners, extraordinary food, beautiful architecture and the resonance of history. Rising on the banks of the Gomti River, Lucknow commands a location that offers both aesthetic and strategic advantages. The city derives its name from Lakshman, brother of Rama, the hero of the ancient Hindu epic the Ramayana. But it was under the Shiite Muslim nawabs, who reigned there from 1722 to 1856, that it acquired its beautifully delicate palaces and mosques and developed the exquisite refinement in arts, culture and cuisine for which it became renowned throughout India.
Enter the mosque-and-palace complex Bara Imambara through the Rumi Darwaza, or Turkish Gate, whose intricate and fanciful carvings evoke an age of poetry, music and etiquette. The spacious courtyard and numerous steps leading up to the mosque provide a wide vista of the surrounding area. Inside the palace, a dizzyingly complex maze, or bhulbhulaiya, still resonates with the ghostly voices and chiming anklets of the nawabs and their mistresses. The narrow, crowded lanes and cul-de-sacs of old Lucknow are crammed with shops displaying samples of the city’s signature style of shadow embroidery on fine cotton, called chikan. There is also a wealth of fabrics and dresses glittering with gold thread and sequins, complementing the display of objets d’art of brass-inlaid metal. For those who prefer to browse in comfort, the more modern shopping districts of the city offer the same items at higher prices. In the nawabi era, Lucknow was famous for its courtesans, many of whom were accomplished poets, singers and dancers, like Japanese geishas. In the old city, where they lived and practiced their art, an imaginative ear, like mine, can still pick up the bygone strains of their music, the mounting crescendo of their footsteps as they performed the Kathak dance to ecstatic accolades from wealthy admirers.
Two very different architectural landmarks in Lucknow attest to India’s encounter with the West and colonialism. The Residency, built for the British representatives of the East India Company, witnessed protracted violence during the rebellion by native troops in 1857. Previously called the Sepoy Mutiny, this uprising is now referred to as the First War of Independence, and its 150th anniversary is being celebrated in India this year. The British garrison was holed up here for several months, at the end of which most of the Residency was in ruins. Today the visitor can still see the marks of cannon and rifle shots on the ruined walls of buildings in the compound.
The second colonial relic lies the eastern corner of Lucknow. A bizarrely ornate, expansive structure built as a palace by Major-General Claude Martin, an 18th-century Frenchman who acted as a military adviser to the nawabs, it is now a school named La Martinière after its creator. Surrounded by a row of flourishing tamarind trees and green meadows with grazing cows, this monument of European Baroque architecture remains a signpost of civilizational melding.
Lucknow is one of the best-known food destinations of India. The nawabs were enthusiastic patrons of the culinary arts and spent monstrous sums on the rakabdars (chefs) they employed. The cuisine they created, named Avadhi after the old province of Avadh, where Lucknow is situated, entrances the palate. Downtown restaurants like Tunday Kababi provide exquisitely authentic melt-in-the-mouth kebabs with names like Gelavat and Kakori, along with a luscious saffron-scented bread called shirmal and the legendary Avadhi pilafs and biryani, redolent of cardamom, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and kewra water (essence of screw pine). And if you have room in your stomach after feasting on these, shops like Ram Asrey offer a panoply of sweets and desserts, each with a signature taste or texture.
In addition to these man-made delights, the region has been blessed by nature, too. The state of Uttar Pradesh is renowned for its mangoes. The king of these is undoubtedly the Langra, which in my opinion is superior to the better-publicized Alfonso of Bombay. Other delightful varieties include the Chausa and the Dusseri (named after Deshehari, a village near Lucknow). One outcome of President Bush’s 2006 visit to India was the lifting of the ban on exporting mangoes to the United States. This past summer Americans, without setting foot in the country, were able to sample the fruit that Indians consider fit for the gods. The nawabs of Lucknow would have smiled, had they been around.
Staying in Lucknow: The Clarks Avadh (91-11- 237-06050-052; fax: 237-06049; www.hotelclarks.com) is centrally located and a desirable destination. However, I couldn’t get rooms there and stayed instead at the Taj Mahal Hotel (Vipin Khand Gomti Nagar; 91-0-522-392-939; fax: 522-239-2282) in Gomti Nagar. It was a bit of a distance from the downtown area, but the hotel arranged rental cars whenever I needed them. The service was excellent, as were the two restaurants.
